Falling
by lessembarassingusername
Summary: Tragedy has pushed Dick over the edge; can Tim and Babs bring him back? Pairings Dick/Babs. Please R&R
1. Chapter 1

By this point, Tim was flat out worried; Nightwing hadn't been seen in Blüdhaven in a good week, hadn't shown up for work, hadn't made contact with anybody in the "family" or Barbara in longer. He knew sometimes Dick had to go undercover, or maintain silence, it was part of the job, but he would have warned _someone_ first. Wouldn't he?

Finally, on Friday, Tim took one of the Batcycles and drove to Blüdhaven. He parked the bike on the street in front of Dick's apartment and rang the buzzer. After five minutes of ringing and still no answer, Tim took the key Babs had given him and unlocked the door. He grew more and more agitated on the elevator ride up, imagining all the horrible things that could have happened. He couldn't get up there fast enough.

Just to make sure, Tim knocked several times before actually going in. The apartment was a wreck; completely dark save for the T.V which wast turned to static, there were bottles of alcohol littering the floor, couch, and all available flat surfaces, the kitchen was covered in takeout containers and spoiled milk was spilled on the counter. This was worse than he had feared. He knew Dick wasn't the best housekeeper, but this took "bad housekeeping" to a whole new level. Tim tried and failed to think of a logical reason that Dick would leave the apartment in this state, but nothing came to mind.

Tim tried his best to be soundless while sneaking into the back rooms, using all the calming techniques that Bruce had taught him over the years, finding each room in worse condition than the last. The bathroom had broken glass littering the floor, and the toothpaste had been squeezed into the sink the way a toddler might. Finally, Tim approached the bedroom. Listening carefully, Tim thought he could hear a faint, pitiful moaning

_The hell_? Tim thought, trying to think of any reason there would be someone else in the apartment. Upon entering the room, it was impossible to tell what was going on, as the darkness was almost absolute, with the blackout curtains Dick used to sleep during the day. He tried to follow the sound, but it seemed to fade in and out. Finally, he found the source of the sound: Dick was curled into a ball in the darkest corner of the room. He was wearing nothing but grey sweats, and Tim could see his chest was sloppily bound with tape, the exposed gaps covered in purple and yellow bruises.

Tim was shocked, what could have happened that made Dick, one of the strongest people he knew, retreat like this. "Dick, um.. are... are... you okay?"

He reached out to touch his brother, but Dick flinched, turning his head up, squinting hard at Tim. Bruises mottled his face, and it looked like he haven't shaved in at least four days. "T...tt...Timmy? What are you doing here?"

"Dick, you've been gone for a week! What's going on? What happened?" Panic was lacing Tim's voice.

"There were... they were.. falling... and it was so far... and I couldn't reach... I wasn't strong enough... falling" Dick buried his face between his knees.

Tim wasn't sure what was going on, all he knew was that he needed some help, and fast. Tim pressed his comm-link to his ear.

"Babs, I'm at Dick's apartment, and something's really wrong, he's all bruised, and his apartment's a wreck, and he's just talking complete nonsense, it sounds like something about his parents... Babs... I don't know what to do."

" Hey, Tim it's okay, just tell me what he said, and I'll try and figure it out. In the meantime, just get him cleaned up and I'll get back to you"

"Kay. And, thanks Babs."

"Tim, just concentrate on getting Dick okay, and I'll do the rest. He'll be okay... he has to..."


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Thanks so much to everyone who reviewed, hugs for everyone! Sorry it's been a while, school and stuff... Anyway, hope you like it.**

Tim took his had away from his ear, looking around the trashed apartment. He wasn't sure what had happened, but if Babs was nervous, he knew it must be bad.

Finally, he made his way back to the bedroom, careful not to step on any of the mess that littered the floor. He found Dick in the same position he had left him, his head between his knees, moaning softly. Tentatively, Tim reached out and put his hand on his adoptive brother's shoulder.

"Come on Dick, let's get you out of here." Tim whispered in his most comforting voice

Dick flinched at the sound, hugging his arms tight around his head. "I...I can't... they fell... I wasn't... they won't wake up..."

Despair filled Tim, Dick was still talking nonsense, and he wouldn't move. The last thing Tim wanted to do right now was try and get Dick to move, but the bruises looked bad, and he really needed some medical attention.

Suddenly, Tim's comm-link crackled in his ear. "Tim, it's me. Look, I was just scanning the recent news from Blüdhaven, and it looks like there were threats against a circus, not Haley's, and... oh god... "

"What?" The words came out sharper than Tim had intended, and he instantly regretted it. "Look Babs, I'm sorry, I just... Dick's scaring me, and..."

"Tim, listen to me: you need to calm down, just listen for a second. I think I know what's going on. There was a trapeze act, a family. During the attack... they were all killed." Bab's voice came out heavy, like she was having a hard time speaking, "Dick was there, I think whoever it was got away."

"Jesus." Was all Tim could say. "This must be why he was such a wreck, the exhaustion, injury, and the replica of his parent's murder. It was a perfect storm."

"Something doesn't sit right with me, this isn't Dick's style, I'm trying to piece this together, but none of it makes any sense, I mean... look, I've known Dick a long time, and he's never done anything like this." Babs sighed, her voice tired. "Do you need some help?"

"Yeah, I don't think I can do this myself, but Bruce is in Nada Parbat tracking down some ancient cult..."

"And Alfred is visiting Leslie in Africa." Babs finished. " Cass can watch Gotham for a couple of days, I'll send Dinah to help her."

"What about Cass?"

"She'll be fine for a couple of days, I'll be there as fast as I can."

Tim rubbed his temple and looked around the room a last time. Everything was going to hell, and he would have to be the one to fix it. He knew Babs was trying her best, but he could hear the panic threading through her voice. He couldn't do this alone, but for the moment, he was on his own. Clearing the debris off the couch, Tim flopped heavily onto it; in that moment, giving up seemed like a great idea. Taking the bike, running away and find some place to hide until Dick found him, burgers in hand, explaining that he was fine, and what was Tim worried about?

He shook is head, rubbing his eyes with the heels of his hands, trying to draw up a shred of concentration, maybe enough to make him stand up and fix things. Now. Finally, Tim stood up, readjusted his com-link and made his way to the back room. He _would_ find a way to fix this.

This time, Tim made sure to open the shade, letting in what weak rays of sun the cloudy afternoon brought before approaching Dick. He watched the huddled form flinch pathetically at the tiny amount of light the one open window afforded.

Tim gently placed his hand on his brother's shoulder, trying to ease him up, "Dick, I need you to stand up, can you do that?"

Dick gave a little shiver, drawing his arms tighter around himself. The apartment was freezing, and Tim was surprised he hadn't noticed before . As much as Tim didn't want to hurt his brother, he couldn't stay where he was, especially not with the ribs bruised the way they were. He grabbed Dick by the shoulders, lifting him to his feet.

Dick gave a sound of protest, but didn't resist. "Dick, sit down on the bed, I need to look at your ribs." Tim's tone was gentle, but commanding, keeping him focused on the here and now.

Obediently, Dick sat on the edge of the bed, his eyes vacant and glassy, seeing nothing as Tim carefully examined the hastily wrapped bandages; they looked like Dick had just randomly wound the tape around the bruised areas, not actually thinking about it. Tim slowly started peeling it away from his skin, noting where the tape left adhesive tracks from being there too long. Once the bandages were free, Tim could finally see the full extent of the bruises, splotchy purple and yellow covering almost his entire chest. It looked like five, maybe six broken ribs, and more bruised. Several long, jagged scratches ran down Dick's back, and the skin around them was a sickly yellow deteriorating to an angry red.

Tim's comm-link sparked to life. "Tim, I'm ten minutes away, how's Dick?"

"He's..." Tim briefly considered lying to Barbara, if only to ease the pain for a couple of minutes, but thought better of it, Babs would know right away and she was on her way here, still, the thought of her so anxious for Dick seemed tragic to him. "He's bad, it's worse than I thought. I'm going to check the medicine cabinet, see what he has."

"Alright, I brought some stuff, I'll see you there soon." Babs ended the transmission.

Tim left Dick sitting on the bed confident he wouldn't move. Back in the bathroom, he opened the medicine cabinet, shards of the shattered mirror falling to the ground and the bathroom counter, crunching as Tim shifted.

Babs was only minutes away, and her thoughts were racing faster and faster the closer she got to Dick's apartment. She knew Dick was exhausted, and probably stretched thin, but he was stronger than this, maybe stronger than anyone in the family; despite the shadows, he had always managed to let the sun in. This went beyond throwing yourself into your work, something was off.

Babs' SUV rounded the last corner to Dick's apartment. She remembered his apartment was wheelchair friendly, thank God. She ran her hands through her hair and sighed before getting out of the car and entering the building.

Tim was sifting through the Bactine, Advil, and... Magnum Gold Brand, Extra Sensation. Tim would have laughed, if anything had been funny in that moment. He found the partially unwrapped bandage Dick had used, stuck to the back wall, ripped off the ruined parts and moved to below the sink. Jackpot: it looked like Dick had bought out Walgreens, plus some heavy medical stuff, stuff from Alfred, and it looked like some magical potions mixed in there.

Just then, there was a knock at the door. Tim sprinted to the door, at the very last minute remembering to check the peep hole before letting an anxious-looking Barbara in the door.

The apartment was worse than she'd thought, smelling of beer and spoiled milk, the T.V. long since gone to static. Not a single light was on in the entire apartment.

"Where is he, Tim?" Babs could hear the pleading in her voice, waiting for Tim to explain this was all just some misunderstanding, or one of Dick's stupid jokes. Anything but this.

"He's...um... in the back bedroom, but, Babs..." Tim shifted from foot to foot, running his had through his hair over and over.

"Tim, it's okay, just get whatever you need from under the sink and come to the back room." Barbara knew she couldn't break down, not now. Tim, and now Dick were counting on her.

In the bedroom, things seemed worse. What looked like Dick's entire wardrobe, including his uniform, was spread on the floor, collecting in drifts. More bottles and cans were on every surface, and inexplicably, paper, crumpled and scattered among the rest of the detritus.

Barbara moved slowly and carefully through the mess to Dick, sitting on the bed. His head ducked and his slightly too long hair falling in his eyes. He looked broken and lost, covered in bruises, vacant eyes seeing nothing. He didn't respond when she touched his knee.

"Dick, baby, what happened?" Babs didn't really expect an answer, from what Tim had said, Dick wasn't exactly coherent. To her surprise, he blinked, as if he was looking through a fog.

"Babs? It's dark, I can't see. Where are they, they can't fall! Babs! We have to find them!"

"Dick, what are you talking about? Are you talking about the circus?" Babs grabbed Dick's wrists.

"No, I mean, yes. Who are you? Let go of me! We have to save them!" Dick yanked his arms forcefully away from Babs, his eyes darting back and forth.

"DICK! You have to listen to me, everything is going to be fine, just... tell me what's going on, okay?" Barbara could hear the hysteria creeping into her voice.

"Babs, it's too late isn't it? It's too late..." Dick seemed to collapse, almost falling into her arms. "Too late..."

"Shhhhh... No, we can fix this, it's going to be okay... shhhhhh" Barbara whispered, she hugged him tightly, quietly mourning all the promises she couldn't keep.


End file.
